Essential Benefits Are... Essential

Posted by Marc Stier on March 24, 2017 8:31 am
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The ACA repeal effort failed in the House on Thursday. But it will be voted on today. 

And the bill keeps getting worse and worse — and that one particular way in which it got worse today may ultimately kill it, even if it passes the House today. 

A recent report by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, points to some of the ways the bill that emerged on Thursday morning deepens cuts to health care:

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act: A $31 billion tax cut for a handful of the wealthiest taxpayers

Posted by Mark Price on March 20, 2017 3:34 pm
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In Pennsylvania, the top 1% of families have captured just over half of all the growth in market incomes between 1979 and 2013 (Figure A above). As we have argued, this imbalance is largely the result of policy choices that have favored financial executives and CEOs over working families.

Trump Budget Slashes State and Local Grants at Tough Time for States

Posted by Anonymous on March 20, 2017 1:59 pm
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This post, written by Iris J. Lav, originally appeared on the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities blog on March 17, 2017. You can view the original post here.

Health care must be provided communally

Posted by Marc Stier on March 19, 2017 4:53 pm
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This piece originally ran in Newsworks on January 26, 2017. You can find the original here. 

Every once in a while, when I write something in defense of the Affordable Care Act, or point out, as the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center recent reported, that repealing it will lead 1.1 million Pennsylvanians to lose their insurance and 3,425 to die each year as a result, someone comments, “I pay for my own health insurance. Why should I pay taxes for anyone else’s?”

New Report Confirms Assumptions About PA Coverage Losses Under GOP Health Care Plan

Posted by Marc Stier on March 17, 2017 7:00 pm
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A new study from the Center for America Progress estimates that 970,000 fewer Pennsylvanians will have health insurance if the GOP health care plan is adopted by Congress. The study also provides detailed estimates for how many fewer people will be covered by Congressional district for each kind of health insurance (traditional Medicaid, Medicaid expansion, marketplace, and employer-based insurance.)

Did your state rep vote make Betsy DeVos proud?

Posted by Susan Spicka on March 16, 2017 11:00 am
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The following is a guest post from Susan Spicka, Executive Director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania. It was originally posted on their blog here.

Budgets are about priorities and yesterday 147 members of the PA House made it clear that funding scholarships for students to attend unaccountable private/religious schools is one of their top budget priorities this year. They made school privatizer Betsy DeVos proud.

PBPC on CBO Score for GOP Healthcare Plan

Posted by John Neurohr on March 13, 2017 7:29 pm
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Marc Stier, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, made the following statement following the release of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scoring for the "American Health Care Act," the GOP House healthcare proposal:

The Congressional Budget Office released its evaluation of the Republican replacement for the Affordable Act (ACA), the American Health Care Act (AHCA) today and, not surprisingly, the news is grim for the nation, and by extrapolation, for Pennsylvania.

Did I Miss a Contribution from the Arnold Foundation to the New York Times?

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on March 9, 2017 4:47 pm
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Over the past half-dozen years, former Enron billionaire John Arnold has spent up to $50 million for research and communications aimed at eliminating guaranteed pensions for public sector workers.
 
Much of this money has gone to pillars of liberal America, such as the Pew Trust, the Urban Institute (recipient of almos

Analysis of Effects of House GOP Health Care Plan on Pennsylvania

Posted by Marc Stier on March 7, 2017 11:24 am
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The following is an analysis of how the recently-released House GOP proposal, the "American Health Care Act," would affect Pennsylvanians:

The health care legislation introduced by the House Republicans late yesterday is a devastating and dishonest attack on not only the Affordable Care Act, but on the Medicaid program. When fully implemented, it will have horrible consequences not only for the health of low- and moderate- income Pennsylvanians, but on long-term care for all but our wealthiest senior citizens.

We will be providing a thorough analysis of the legislation soon. But our preliminary analysis suggests that when the program is fully implemented, around 1 million low- and moderate- income Pennsylvanians will lose health insurance; the state budget will lose at least $2.5 to $3 billion in funding; at least 60,000 Pennsylvanians will lose their jobs, and over 4,000 Pennsylvanians per year will die prematurely.

On Retirement Security, Senators Casey and Toomey, Which Side Are You On?

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on February 26, 2017 7:15 pm
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There's another "which side are you on?" issue under consideration in Washington D.C., and it could come before Senators Casey and Toomey in a vote as early as this week.

The issue is retirement security in the private sector.

Every one of Pennsylvania's 13 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives has already spoken. They are against it—retirement security in the private sector that is. That means they are also against Main Street and for Wall Street. Good to know. 

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